RE: [boost] Re: Customer Friendlier Boost Installation

-----Original Message----- From: boost-bounces@lists.boost.org [mailto:boost-bounces@lists.boost.org] On Behalf Of Loïc Joly Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2005 2:23 PM To: boost@lists.boost.org Subject: [boost] Re: Customer Friendlier Boost Installation
Paul A Bristow a écrit :
Recently we had a flurry of discussion of why Boost is not more widely used.
I have used some bits of Boost happily for years, but recently I felt I had to use it 'properly' so concluded it was time I used the bjam build system - something I had felt looked a bit clever.
<SNIP>
* Finally, installing boost takes longer than installing VC++... Is building from the source such an important point ? Would'nt it be possible to provide pre-built libraries for the 3 or 4 main compilers on windows with each release ? The whole package, zipped, is 80mb on my VC8.
-- Loïc
[Brian Braatz Writes:] Thank you for also suggesting that. Somewhere, someplace, an angel just got his wings.. :)

Brian Braatz wrote:
Paul A Bristow a écrit : * Finally, installing boost takes longer than installing VC++... Is building from the source such an important point ? Would'nt it be possible to provide pre-built libraries for the 3 or 4 main compilers on windows with each release ? The whole package, zipped, is 80mb on my VC8. [Brian Braatz Writes:] Thank you for also suggesting that.
Why not make it configurable as part of the install: [0] Dependancies: check for Python, cygwin, xsltproc, doxygen, etc. allowing the user to configure these ("I have Python installed here..."). [1] Get Boost from... [local directory, boost-consulting, sourceforge, CVS (requires a CVS client), ...] [2] Select the compilers/versions I want to use Boost on (auto-detected and configurable list -- add compilers/versions not on the list, select "(do not) support" [3] Select which parts of Boost the user whats to install/build [4] Tools: get prebuilt version of bjam/wave/quickbook or build from distribution (with compiler...) [5] List prebuild libraries so I can select the compilers/versions I want to support [6] Build libraries for the compilers/versions I want to support (that I haven't downloaded prebuild versions for) The order of the above would probably change. The options should have suitable (auto-detected if possible) defaults so the user can just click next on all the pages to get up and running, while allowing the user to run the setup program again to add support for a new compiler or use a new library (e.g. program options). If the user selects "Download Boost from CVS" then the install should skip downloading prebuild libraries. Likewise if they choose to download an older version (e.g. 1.31). Reece Haston Dunn Software Engineer, Sophos Web: www.sophos.com Sophos - protecting businesses against viruses and spam
participants (2)
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Brian Braatz
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Reece Dunn